Konoha, Year 55, spring.
The streets were packed with pedestrians, while elegant cherry blossoms blanketed the slopes, dancing in the breeze.
"Naruto!"
A furious roar, like a lioness scolding her husband, echoed through the neighborhood. On the street, a red-haired woman draped over the wall stood with her hands on her hips, glaring up at the sky.
On a streetlamp, a seven-year-old blond boy clung tightly to the pole with all four limbs, looking down at his mother in panic.
"Come down!!!"
"No!!!"
"Be good, come down. I won't hit you!" With her hands behind her back, Kushina concealed the spatula she was holding.
"You're lying!" Little Naruto said, forcing himself to be brave. "I don't believe you!"
Cherry blossoms drifted down before their eyes.
The beautiful spring scenery carried a faint, warm tenderness.
"You little brat! Get down here!" Kushina's last shred of patience vanished. She shouted furiously, on the verge of losing her mind, "Believe it or not, this old lady will beat you to death!"
There was maternal love, certainly, in suffocating abundance.
"I'm not coming down!" Naruto felt suffocated.
The fact that his mother wasn't gentle in the slightest was common knowledge.
But...
Who exactly did this child take after?
Kushina fell into doubt once again.
Were they really his biological parents, she and Minato?
His foolish, vacant look was enough to give anyone a headache.
"Then hug that thing and stay up there for the rest of your life!"
"Why do you care?" As he spoke, he climbed a little higher, using both hands and feet.
That's right, just keep climbing where I can't reach you.
In little Naruto's simple mind, he really couldn't understand what his mother beating him until it hurt had to do with whether or not she was a ninja.
Yes,